Main bearing construction for turbine pumps



A. R. WEIS Ma h 21, 1933.

7 1,902,150 MAIN BEARING CONSTRUCTION FOR TURBINE PUMPS Filed Dec. 27. 1927 [N e/v ce E SheetS-Sheet 2 l at ented Mar. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR RQWEIS, OF HUNTINGTON PAR-K, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORIOF ONE-HALF T PACIFIC PUMP WORKS, 0F HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA, AND ONE-FOURTH. TO GEORGE E. BIGELOW, 0F HUNTINGTON PARK,

CALIFORNIA MAIN BEARING construuc rroi rr non TURBINE PUMPS Application filed. December 27, rear. Serial No. 242,907.

My invention relates to deep well turbine pumps and has as one of its Objects the pro vision of means for protectlng a bearing thereof from sand carried by the well fluid. In the type of deep well turbine pump in common use, the pump includes a pump head located on the surface of the ground at the upper end of a well, a pump section disposed in a lower portion of the well, and a column pipe connecting the pump head with the pump section and in which a shaft is disposed by which the pump section is driven by the pump head to raise well fluid through the column pipe to the surface of the ground. Inv these turbine pumps, the upper main bearing of the pump sectionis located in a zone of high fluid pressure for the reason that the well fluid is pumped directly around it into the column pipe at. a sufficient pressure to raise this fluid throughout the entire length of the column pipe. This well fluid commonly carries considerable quantities of abrasive matter such as sand, and much difficulty has been experienced in keeping this sand out of the upper main bearing of the pump section.

It is correspondingly an object of my in vention to provide a pump structure in which the upper main bearing of the pump section is protected from abrasive matter carried by the pumped well fluid.

It is a further object to provide a packing structure for protecting a main bearing of the pump section, which pump structure will not readily wear out, owing to the abrasive action of particles of grit against this structure.

In the well-known pump constructions, it is attempted to protect the main hearing by a stuffing box which surrounds the pump shaft directly below the main bearing. This stufling box will protect the, main bearing when new, but due to the high pressure of the liquid being pumped, the liquid soon forces its way through the stuffing box and attacks the main bearing.

This deficiency of the ordinary pump constructions is overcome in this invention by designing the pump so that a 'counter 'flow, of liquid is established which, opposes the tendency for the liquid to flow to the main bearing as it ordinarily does.

Further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description and in the accompanying drawings in which a'preferred form of pump embodying my in vention is illustrated. In the drawings: I

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an installation of the pump of my invention in a deep well.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the upper portion of the pump section of the pump shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-8 of Fig. 2. j

Fig. 4 is a still further enlarged vertical sectional view illustrating a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are horizontal sectional views taken on correspondingly numbered lines of Fig. 4. y

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6. 7

Referring specifically to the drawings: Fig. 1 shows a well'lO provided with a casing 11 which connects at its lower end with a water bearing stratum 12. A deep well turbine pump 14 is installed in the well 10."

The pump l l includes a: pump head 15, a pump sectionlG, and a column pipe 17 connecting the pump" head to the pump section.

The pump section 16 includes an upper main bearing structure 20, aseries of impeller bowls 21, and a lower main bearing structure 22. The upper main bearing structure 20,the impeller bowls 21 and 'the lower main bearing structure 22 areco'nnected together and to the lower end of the column pipe 17, as

shown in Fig. 1, and connected to the lower end of the lower bearing structure 22 and extending into the water bearing stratum 12 is a screen pipe 23.

The invention relates'p'articularly to the construction of the upper main bearing struc= ture and the uppermost bowl 25 of the. 95

impeller-bowls 21.

The upper main bearing structure 20 has an outer shell portion having outward extending flanges 31and 32 provided upon its upper an'd'lower ends. The flange 81 connects to a suitable flange 33 provided upon the lower end of the column pipe 17. Formed integral with the shell are substantially radial webs 35 and an inner housing body 36, formed axially within the bearing 20. The inner body 36 has a bore or recess 37 and a counterbore 38 formed centrally therein.

through, the opening having a counterbore 51 at its lower end.

The shaft housing tubing 48 extends upward from the pump section 16 through the column pipe 17 and is supported upon the pump head 15. Also supported upon, and adapted to be rotated by the pump head 15,

is a line shaft 55 which extends downward through the shaft housing 48 so that the lower end extends through the bearing opening 50 of the bushing 46 and journals therein. WVhen the shaft 55 is properly positioned in the bearing 46, an enlarged shaft portion 56 is disposed just below the bearing 46 in the central chamber formed by the bore 37 and the counterbore 38 of the body 36. A lower 7 portion 57 of the shaft 55 which-lies below the enlarged portion 56 is of a. still largerv diameter so as toform a shoulder 58 positioned in the bore 37. The upper end ofthe enlarged shaft portion 56 has threads 59 and. a sleeve 60 rests downward against the shoulder 58 and is disposed about the enlarged shaft portion 56 and is retained thereon by a nut' 61 screwed downward on the threads 59. The nut 61 and the upper end of the sleeve 60 extend upward into the counterbore 51 of the upper main bearing 46, so that the outer surface of the sleeve 60 makes a tight bearing fit with the counterbore 51. The lower end of the sleeve 60, however, extends loosely into the bore 37, there being a clearance space 62 therebetween.

Disposed in the lower portion of the bearing chamber 40 is an annular packer 64 and in the upper end thereof is an annular packer 65. Disposed between the packers 64 and 65 is a resilient pressure device 67 which presses upward against the packer 65 tending to compress this against the lower end of the bearing bushing 46 and expand this packer between the walls of the bearing 40 andthe outer surface of the sleeve 60. The resilient member 67 also compresses the'packer 64- against a shoulder 68 formed atthejuncture of the bore 37 and the counterbore 38 so as to form a similar seal between the walls of the bearing 40 and the outer surface of the sleeve 60 in the lower end of the counterbore 38. At a point opposite the resilient member 67, one of the webs 35 has an enlargement 70 which is provided with a vent duct or by-pass 71 which communicates between the counterbore 38 and the exterior of the upper main bearing 20.

The impeller bowl 25 is of the conventional type, having an outer shell 75 and an inner body 76 connected by and cast integral with substantially vertical webs 77. Formed on the upper end of the shell 75 is a flange 78 which is suitably connected to the lower flange 32 of the upper main bearing structure 7 20. Formed in the lower end of the shell 75 is a bead 80 which is connected in any suitable manner to an upper flange 81 of the bowl 21 disposed therebeneath. The impeller bowl 25 provides an impeller chamber 83. Formed centrally in the body 76 is a bore 85 having a counterbore 86 formed in the lower end thereof. Pressed upwardly into the bore 85 so as to extend upward from the body 76 into the bore 37 is a stationary sleeve 88 forming a part of theimpeller bowl 25. The shaft 55 extends through a longitudinal bore 88a of the sleeve but is separated therefrom by a primary clearancespace 89. The sleeve 88 ex- 7 tends into the bore 37 and is separated from thisbore by. a.secondaryclearance space 90 which is considerably smaller than the space 89. The upper end of the sleeve 88 is disposed a. slight distance below the sleeve 607 so as to form an entrance chamber 91 with which theupper ends of the spaces 89 and 90 communicate.

Formed upwardly in the body 76 from the impeller chamber 83 is a series of pockets 92 separated by Webs 93. Disposed in the impeller chamber 83 isan impeller 95 having a hub 96 provided with a bore 97 through which the shaft 55 extends. The bore 97 fits the shaft 55 snugly and the impeller 95 is rigidly secured to the shaft as by a key 98. Extending outward from the hub 96 is an upper shroud 99 which is cast integral with webs 100 and a lower shroud 101.

The lower edges of the webs 93 are disposed some distance above the upper surface of the uppershroud 99, while the outer edge ofthe shroud 99.extends into the upper outer corner of the impeller chamber 83 so that the wall of this chamber is separated from the impeller95- by a narrow space 105. Formed about the hub 96, at the base thereof, is an annular series of vanes 108, formed as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The vanes 108 are so formed that when the impeller 95 is rotated they tend to drawdown any liquid disposed in a space 106 between the impeller hub 96 and the counterbore 86, thus acting as an auxil iary pumpingmeans. The space 106 communicates at its upper end with the space 89.

head 15 so as to rotate the impeller 95 and other impellers mounted upon the shaft in the lower impeller bowls 21 so as to draw well fluid into the screen pipe 23 and force it upward through the column'pipe 17 so that it will be discharged at the top of the well from the pump head 15. I

During the operation of the pump 14, an exceedingly high fluid pressure is set up in the bowl 25 in passages 110 formedbetween the web-s 7 7 The passages 110 cooperate to form a discharge chamber which communicates with the lower end of the space 90. Asthe pressure in the passages 110 is considerably igher than the pressure in the pockets 92 formed in the bowl inner body 7 6, liquid flows from the passages 110 through the space 90, the chamber 91, the space 89 and the space 106, and passes through the vanes 108 into the pockets 92. The action of the rotating impeller 95 throws the liquid, thus discharged into the pockets 92, out through the space 105 into the lower end of the passages 110.

Owing to the pumped liquid being discharged inwardly at the upper ends of the passages 110, the pressure of this fluid against the lower end of the inner body 36 is greater than the pressure of pumped liquid tending to force its way into the space 105 at the lower end of passages 110. This difference in pressures causes a circulation of liquid at the lower end of the space 90, through the spaces 91, 89, 106, and 93, from whence it is discharged outwardly through the space 105, as described above. 1 i

It is also pointed out that the sleeve 88 is stationary and therefore, owing to the fact that the space 90 is approximately .002" wide,

abrasive particles cannot work into the space 90 as happens in certain types of pumps of standard construction where a sleeve similar to the sleeve 88 is similarly disposed but rotates with the uppermost impeller, this requiring that the space corresponding to the space 90 be much larger than .002" wide, and admitting large amounts of grit into the space just beneath the upper main pump bearing.

It is important f passing through the space 90 will have ample to have the space 90 nar-- rower than the space 89. Thus, anything 60 of the packer 64; Due, however, to "the straining action of the walls of the secondary clearance space 90, the abrasive particles cannot reach the space 91 unless almost micro scopic in size. Itshould further be apparent that there is no tendency for the water passing through the space 90 to impinge on the lower end of the packer 64 and cause additional wear thereon. This is due to the fact that this water can only reach the packer through the clearance space 62, this space forming a closedpassage preventing the water from impinging directly on the lower surface of the packer. 9

Thus the packer 64 is kept free fromall grit so that the lower end of the sleeve 60 does not become unduly worn, as happens in turbine pumps at present in general use, and thus insuring an effective seal preventing water from reaching the upper main bearing and prolonging the life of this hearing many fold. The upper bearing sleeve 46 is doublyprotected, however, as even though grit-bearing 'liquid should seep past the packer 64, this would be discharged through the vent duct 71 to the exterior of the pump.

I claim as my invention-z r 1. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber communicating with a longitudinal bore; a shaft extending through said longitudinal bore, there being a primary clearance space between said shaft and the walls of said bore; an impeller on said shaft.v

in said impeller chamber, the rotation of said impeller tending to set up a flow of fluid through said primary clearance space; and

' means for forming a secondary space in com munication with said primary clearance space and through which said flow of fluid must pass before entering said primary clearance space, said secondary space being smaller in cross-section than said primary clear ance space so as to filter the fluid entering said primary clearance space.

2. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber communicating with a longitudinal bore a shaft extending through said longitudinal bore, there being a primary clearance space between said shaft and the r the walls of said bore; an impelleron said shaft in said-impeller chamber, the rotation of said impeller tending to set up a flow of" fluid through said primary clearance space; and a stationary body extending adjacent a portion of said impeller bowl, said body and said portion of said bowl cooperating to form a space communicating with saidprimary clearance space and through which said flow of fluid passes before reaching said primary clearance space, said spacebeing smaller in Vcross-sect1on than said primary clearance space so as to remove abrasive particles "fromthe fluid entering said chamber; an impeller on said shaft in said impeller chamber; asleeve extending from 5 rotatable element journalled in; said bearingsaid impeller bowl and surrounding said shaft, there being a primary clearance space between said shaft and said sleeve communicating with said impeller chamber; and

a stationary body extending adjacent said sleeve to form a secondary: clearance space communicatingat one end with said primary clearance space and at the other end with said discharge chamber whereby a flow of fluid takes place through said clearance spaces.

4. In a deep well pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber and a discharge chamber therein; a bearing structure secured to said impeller bowl and providing a bearing chamber therein; a bearing in said chamber; a shaft journalled in said bearing and extending through said impeller bowl and into said impeller chamber, there being a primary clearance space around said shaft opening on said impeller chamber and on an enlarged annular space around said shaft, said annular space communicating with said discharge chamber through a secondary space and communicating with said bearing chamber; and means for establishing a difference in pressure between said discharge chamber a-nd said impeller chamber whereby a fluid circulation path is set up through said primary and secondary spaces.

5. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber and a discharge chamber therein; a sleeve extending from said impeller bowl; a shaft extending through said sleeve, there being a primary clearance space therebetween communicating with said impeller chamber; an impeller on said shaft in said impeller chamber; a stationary body extending around said'sleeve but spaced therefrom to forma secondary clearance space communicating with said primary clearance space, said body having a bearing chamber therein which communicates with said clearance spaces, said clearance spaces being adapted to carry a flow of'fluid set up by a difference in pressure between. said discharge chamber and said impeller chamber, said fluid moving in a manner to decrease the tendency thereof to enter said bearing chamber; and a bearing in said bearing chamberand journalling said shaft. I r V 6. In a deep well pump, the combination of: an upper bearing structure comprising a body having a bearing surface therein; a

surface; a packer mounted in said body below said bearing surface, said packer engaging the periphery of said rotatable element, the lower end of said packer being in communication with the'fluid pumped by said pump; an impeller bowl secured to said upper bearing structure; and a small passage between said bowl and said upper bearing structure, said passage acting to strain the abrasive particles from said fluid before said fluid comes into direct communication with said packer.

7. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber and a discharge chamber therein; a rotatable member extending into said impeller chamber; an impeller on said rotatable member in said impeller chamber; a sleeve extending from said impeller bowl and surrounding said rotatable member, there being a primary clearance space between said rotatable member and said sleeve communieating with said impeller chamber; a body positioned adjacent said impeller bowl, said body having a bore therethrough and a counter-bored bearing chamber, there being a space between said rotatable member and the walls of said bore, said space opening on said bearing chamber; a bearing in said bearing chamber to rotatably journal said rotatable member; and a secondary clearance space between said sleeve and said body and communicating with said discharge chamber, the distance across said secondary space being smaller than across said primary space in a manner to strain from the fluid reaching said primary space and the space between said rotatable element and said walls of said bore abrasive particles carried by said fluid.

8. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl having an impeller chamber communicating with a longitudinal bore; a shaft extending through said longitudinal bore, there being a primary clearance space between said shaft and the walls of said bore; an impeller on said shaft in said impeller chamber, the rotation of said impeller tending to set up a flow of pumped fluid through said primary clearance space toward said impeller; and means for strain-.

ing the fluid entering said primary clearance space. 1

9. In a deep well turbine pump, the combination of: an impeller bowl including impeller and discharge, chambers; meansincluding moving and stationary walls for defining a space communicating with said impeller chamber; means including a pair of stationary walls spaced closer together than said walls of said first-mentioned means and defining a space communicating with said discharge chamber and with. said first-named space; and, means for setting upa fluid flow from said discharge chamber to saidimpellef chamber throughsaid spaces.

10. In a pump of the character described having a by-pass for relieving the interior of its shaft tubing from pressure existing in the pump interior; a shaft; a wall structure surrounding said shaftand operating to restrict the fiow from said pump interior around said shaft andthrough said by-pass, there being a recess at the inner end of said Wall structure forming an entrance chamber for said by-pass; means for delivering a clean fluid under pressure to said entrance chamber so that the flow through said bypass will consist of said clean fluid; and means for causing a flow of said clean fluid from said entrance chamber into said pump interior.

11. In a pump of the character described having a by-pass for relieving the interior of its shaft tubing from pressure existing in the pump interior; a shaft; a wall structure surrounding said shaft and operating to restrict the flow from said pump interior around said shaft and through said by-pass, there being a recess at the inner end of said wall structure forming an entrance chamber for said by-pass; means for delivering a clean fluid under pressure to said entrance chamber so that the flow through said bypass will consist of said clean fluid; and an impeller on said shaft at the inner end of said entrance chamber for producing a flow of said clean fluid from said entrance chamber into said pump interior.

12. A pump of the character described, including: an impeller shaft; an impeller secured to and rotated by said shaft; a casing structure surrounding said shaft and said impeller, said casing structure comprising an inner wall having a bore receiving said shaft above said impeller, an outer wall forming pump passages exterior of said inner wall,

and a by-pass passage having communica tion at its inner end with said bore of said inner wall above said impeller and having communication at the outer end with the exterior of said casing, there being a recess at the lower end of said inner wall forming an entrance chamber leading into said bore; and auxiliary impeller means on said shaft for producing a flow of liquid from said entrance chamber toward said pump passages.

13. A pump of the character described, including: an impeller shaft; an impeller secpred to and rotated by said shaft; a casing structure surrounding said shaft and said impeller, said casing structure comprising an inner wall having a bore receiving said shaft above said impeller, an outer wall forming pump passages exterior of said inner wall, and a by-pass passage having communication at its inner end with said bore of said inner wall above said impeller and having communication at its outer end with the exterior of said casing, there being a recess at the lower end of said inner wall forming an entrance chamber leading into said bore; means for delivering a fluid from an external position to said entrance chamber; sealing means operative around said shaft to restrict the flow of liquid through said bore; and impeller means on the upper end of said impeller for producing a flow of liquid from said entrance chamber toward said pump passages. v p I In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 19 day of December, 1927. r.

c ARTHUR R. WEIS. 

